Rice prices are rising in Asia's main exporting countries, driven by tight domestic supply, a stronger Indian rupee, worries about output and expectations of higher demand, News Bangla 24 reported, citing Pakistan's Business Recorder.
In India prices rose for a second week. Last week 5 percent broken parboiled rice traded at $387 to $392 a tonne, up from $384 to $389 the week before, while 5 percent broken white rice rose to $389 to $394 from $385 to $390 two weeks earlier. A Kolkata-based exporter said paddy supply in the market is short, pushing prices up.
Below-normal rainfall has cut production in several Indian states, and a lack of rain as the crop ripened has raised fears of lower yields. Industry officials fear India's rice output could fall for the first time in about a decade, and by the largest margin in some 20 years.
In Vietnam, 5 percent broken rice sold at $440 to $450 a tonne on Thursday, up from $420 to $430 two weeks earlier and the highest since 21 August. Traders hope the Philippines will resume buying Vietnamese rice from November. A Vietnamese agriculture ministry official said exports will be under pressure for the rest of the year but the 8 million tonne target will be met; customs data show 228,871 tonnes shipped in the first half of October, bringing the year's total to 6.6 million tonnes.
In Thailand, 5 percent broken rice rose to $480 a tonne from $465 to $468 two weeks earlier. More ships waiting to load at port, extra buying by exporters, the tail end of the off-season harvest and floods disrupting harvesting and collection have squeezed supply. But with stiffer competition and weaker demand from major buyers, the Thai Rice Exporters Association fears this year's 7 million tonne export target may not be met.
Reported by News Bangla 24's business desk, based on Business Recorder.
Photo: Newly transplanted paddy field (illustrative), Malcolm Manners / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Source: News Bangla 24
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